


Friendship isn't an Emotion

by TaiWind



Series: Matchstick Souls [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: F/M, Nonbinary Blanche, Unrequited Love, also this one sequence might get trippy at one point so watch out for that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaiWind/pseuds/TaiWind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As part of Prof. Willow's scientific research into the three lake fairies from Sinnoh, Spark gets saddled with the task of befriending Mesprit, who seems less than enthusiastic about it. The fairy, as it turns out, has a particular distaste for those who are dishonest with their emotions.</p><p>Prequel to Locked Out</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Three Clues

**Author's Note:**

> at what point between writing a self indulgent fluffy oneshot about my ship and planning an entire plotline for that oneshot have i crossed the "in too deep" line? i dont care but have this prequel (the sequel will be coming later)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spark arrives late to Professor Willow's lab, and receives a rather strange assignment - making friends with a Legendary.

The first clue came as Spark barely made it to Professor Willow's lab. Panting, he leaned against the wall to catch his breath from the mad dash he just performed. Against his best efforts, he came to the lab late.

His attention was captured by some manner of noise off to the side, and Spark turned towards it to see two familiar figures and one unfamiliar - his team leader peer Candela and her Magmar, Blazer, who appeared to be fighting against a small, bluish, barely humanoid figure floating carelessly about three feet off the ground, twirling around with its two tails trailing behind as it parried every attack Blazer could throw at it.

"Yo, Candycane!" he waved at her, bouncing himself off the wall to approach the fight scene.

"Sparkplug! You're late!" She waved back, turning her attention from the fight, upon which both Blazer and the tiny blue being seemed to stop, turning to look at Spark as well.

"Yeah, I know. Morning routine got a little stretched. So, what's that you got there?" he asked, motioning towards the blue fairy, which he only now noticed sported a star-shaped headdress, a more rich shade of blue.

"This is Azelf, a Legendary Pokemon from Sinnoh," Candela replied, only to witness Spark's shocked reaction. Where'd Professor Willow get a Legendary? A Legendary from Sinnoh for that matter? "And if you think that's surprising, he has two more inside." You have never seen a more surprised face.

"T-three Legendaries? Just like that?"

"Yeah. Blanche already got theirs, and I assume the last one is for you."

Okay, now you've never seen a more surprised face. Spark took a few deep breaths before he could continue. Even to a man who usually rolled with the punches really well, this came as quite the curveball.

"So, what are you doing with Azelf over here?" he finally asked, glancing over at Azelf, who seemed rather content ignoring the chatting duo to chase its own tails around in the air.

"We're supposed to find out how strong the three really are," Candela said. "My job is to see how strong Azelf is by fighting it," she continued, determination burning in her eyes, "and that's just what I'm going to do! Blazer, Fire Punch again, and put some backbone into it!"

With Candela focusing on her fight again, Spark, still a little flabbergasted, slowly backed away to avoid the raging flames, which Azelf seemed to effortlessly conjure up crystalline barriers to protect itself from. Spark took a few more steps backwards, just to watch, then turned around and continued inside.

* * *

The second clue lay inside the lab, and as Spark entered, he could see Blanche and another bluish fairy, though this one's headdress was yellow and more circular. Blanche had set up some overly complicated machinery around it, and was watching it intently, taking all sorts of notes too complicated for Spark to understand - if it wasn't already complicated for him to understand how they were getting all that data from just a few electrodes stuck to the Pokemon's body and hooked up to machinery. Thinking back to Candela's fight outside, he remembered the seemingly carefree way Azelf behaved - this Pokemon, however, seemed like it was asleep, hovering only one foot off the ground, eyes closed shut.

"Hey there, Blanche. Is that another one of those Legendaries?" he approached them from behind, causing not so much as a twitch in the scientist's attention.

"This is Uxie, the Being of Knowledge," said Blanche, not bothering to look up from their research. "Hello, Spark. I see you've received Professor Willow's e-mail this morning just like Candela and I. Yet you're late."

"Thanks, I already kinda worked that part out on my own. So you're working with Uxie, then?"

"Yes. I was tasked with gauging Uxie's strength by studying it."

Spark leaned over Blanche's shoulder to see their notes, and though he couldn't understand anything any better than he did from afar, he did notice that none of them resembled any evaluation of Uxie's power. Though not one to knock Blanche's methods, nor indeed those of Professor Willow, he wondered what his task would be. Candela was an expert at battling Pokemon, and Blanche at studying them, though Spark didn't have any particular specialization - he just enjoyed working with Pokemon. "Well, I'll just leave you to it, then."

"Thank you," Blanche responded, still focused on Uxie, and Spark continued deeper into the lab.

* * *

The third clue emerged soon after Professor Willow, who came down from upstairs, hands in the pockets of his coat, to find Spark waiting for him. "You're late, Spark," the Professor said with a forgiving smile.

"You're the third person who's told me that today, Professor," Spark replied, unamused. "So what's all this about Legendary Pokemon from Sinnoh?"

"Oh, yes!" The professor sat down in a nearby chair, beckoning for Spark to sit next to him, which the boy did. "I see you've already acquainted yourself with Azelf and Uxie, so you can probably tell what awaits you next," Professor Willow said. "These three have been going around the Pokemon Professor community for some time now, handed from person to person, starting with Rowan in Sinnoh, and eventually ending up here!"

"Uh-huh." Spark nodded. "Pardon me, Professor, but how did three Legendary Pokemon end up in Professor Rowan's hands in the first place?" he asked, many similar questions on his mind.

"That's not important right now. What's important is that we have the rare chance to study these three, and since I'm going to be traveling all week, I decided I'd pass the task down onto you three! Now, let me introduce you to your assignment. Mesprit!" the Professor called out, and a third bluish fairy floated down from upstairs, looking at the duo. This one's headdress was pink, somewhat resembling four pigtails. "This is Mesprit, known as the Being of Emotion, and your task for this week will be to gauge its power by becoming friends with it."

"That's... Forgive me, Professor, but that doesn't seem very scientific, I mean-" Spark was stopped mid-sentence by Professor Willow's hand on his shoulder, the man looking deep into Spark's eyes.

"Spark Jung, I didn't just hire you all those years ago because you and the other two were practically inseparable. I hired you because I saw potential in you, and you haven't disappointed me so far." Willow gave Spark an encouraging pat on the shoulder, then stood up from his seat (using Spark as leverage) and turned to him one last time. "Keep the streak up. I'm sure you'll figure it out." With that, the Professor walked off, leaving Spark alone with Mesprit. After watching Professor Willow exit the lab, Spark turned to face the fairy, though he was met with an unexpected glare.

"Hi. I'm Spark."

No response.

"This is going to be a loooong week, isn't it?"


	2. The Instinct Base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spark and Mesprit head over to the Instinct base, where Spark gives temporary command to his three most trusted team members, and Mesprit reconsiders its options.

"Look, you're gonna be stuck with me for a while, so you might as well say something."

Spark was walking down the street, away from Professor Willow's lab and in the direction of his own, which was deeper in the city. Mesprit, though trying to appear distant, was floating close behind, with the understanding that if anyone had a desire to capture it for their own, Spark would protect it. The duo had left Willow's lab about an hour ago, and it was still a half-hour walk to the Instinct lab. Given the fact that Spark had spent the hour trying to strike up a conversation, and the realization that he wouldn't relent no matter the cost, Mesprit finally decided to give in.

“Can you even talk?” Spark stopped and turned on his heel, then continued to walk backwards while looking at Mesprit. “That's probably important, I should have asked the Professor about it earlier.”

'I can talk,' a thought resonated within Spark's mind, a foreign thought, accompanied by the sound of a gentle bell, resonating alone in a sea of millions of its kind. Spark nearly fell over backwards in surprise.

“Was that telepathy?”

'Yes, it was. I decided that I might as well reward you for trying.'

“Thanks, I guess.”

'You keep trying. Why do you keep trying? Why do you want to be my friend?'

Spark thought about it. While it was true that it was his assignment from the Professor to become friends with Mesprit, he wouldn't entirely be lying if he said he had his own personal reasons...

“Truth is,” he said, turning back around to face forward, with Mesprit floating up next to him, “this is my first chance to befriend a Legendary Pokemon since... well, that's not important, but my point is, I want to be friends with you because I just want to.” He paused. “I know that sounds dumb, but it's true.”

'Very well. I shall give you a chance.' Mesprit crossed its arms. The boy didn't give up even in the face of absolutely zero visible progress, and didn't seem like he was going to no matter how tough a nut Mesprit would prove to crack. 'You have no idea what to do though, do you, boy?'

“Okay, for the record, the name's Spark,” Spark said, mildly annoyed. “And you're right, I don't. But I'll figure it out, somehow.”

'You have not earned my friendship yet, so I will not call you by your name,' Mesprit responded flatly. 'Though I will admit, you have intrigued me.'

“Yes!” Spark exclaimed with a giddy grin, pumping his fist in the air. “That's step one complete.”

Mesprit rolled its eyes. 'As if you have a plan.'

“Hey! Just because I don't have a plan doesn't mean I won't succeed! There's precedent for that.”

'I care not for your past or personal life.'

“Well, you'd better turn that attitude around, because you'll be living with me in my apartment. That's step two.”

'Guh- How dare you! You cannot possibly ask a Legendary Pokemon such as myself to live in your human dwelling.'

“Well, I kinda can. Because I have your Pokeball, and that gives me power over you.”

'Disgusting.'

“Relax, I promise not to abuse my power. As long as you promise to live with me! C'mon, I'm sure I'm not that bad.” Spark tried to playfully nudge Mesprit with his elbow, but the fairy dodged out of the way, glaring at him.

'Fine. But I don't have to like it.'

“Step two complete! It's just for a week anyway, then it's back to Sinnoh with you.”

'I'd surely hope so.'

Now it was Spark's turn to roll his eyes.

“You don't have to be so abrasive all the time. Do you not like humans, or something?”

'Some humans,' said Mesprit. 'You among them.'

“Okay, now that's just rude.”

* * *

It took the two about fifteen minutes still to reach the Instinct laboratory and team base. With a few Instinct trainers sitting around outside, and a few more peeking out the glass walls of the in-house cafeteria, some waving and greeting their leader, others surprised and excited about the Mesprit behind him. Spark waved back, greeting everyone with one of his huge smiles as he walked towards the entrance and inside, Mesprit following, its tiny arms still crossed.

The Instinct lab was significantly smaller than Willow's, both on the outside and on the inside, and not nearly as full of machinery. Most of it was full of chairs, tables with computers, and shelves full of books and incubators with Pokemon eggs inside. Some trainers were at their computers, others reading books, and some returning eggs onto shelves and taking new ones, giving the place the feel of a busy Combeehive, especially with all the yellow-clad people.

In spite of all this, Mesprit's attention was caught by a quite unusual sight for a newcomer – a Pichu with two extra tips on its left ear, sitting on top of one of the shelves and happily munching away at a Rawst berry.

“Welcome to Instinct Lab and base, feel free to make yourself at home,” Spark said, turning to face the fairy. “I'll need to go talk to someone, but I'll be right back. If you have any questions-”

'That Pichu. Who is she?' Mesprit interrupted, looking at the mysterious yellow Pokemon.

“That's Mimi, she's sort of a team pet. Doesn't really belong to anyone, she just kinda hangs out in the lab and... well, that's about it, really,” Spark explained. Mimi reacted to her name being called and turned to look at Spark and Mesprit, who both gave her a short greeting wave. “Now I really have to go, though. Don't break anything!” And with that, Spark ran upstairs, leaving the room.

Mesprit, a curious look on its face, floated up to Mimi. 'I am Mesprit,' it introduced itself, watching Mimi not even raise her head away from the Rawst berry she was still eating. 'May I have some of the berry?'

Mimi looked up at Mesprit and, smiling, handed the berry to it. The red gem on Mesprit's forehead glimmered, and the berry glew with a faint pink, floating over to Mesprit, who took a bite out of it. 'Tell me about Spark. What kind of person is he?'

“Pichu! Pi, pichu pi!” Mimi said, gesturing wildly with her tiny arms. “Chu, pichu pi!”

'Really. Well, thank you for the berry. And the conversation,' Mesprit said, returning the Rawst berry to Mimi. 'Maybe we will see each other again.'

“Mesprit, I'm back,” shouted Spark, who had just entered the room again, accompanied by another Instinct trainer. Mesprit adopted its signature frown, and floated back down to Spark, who turned his attention to the whole lab.

“Alright, guys!” he yelled, turning the heads of most of the Instinct trainers present. “I won't be around much for the whole week, so until I'm back, the Top Three are in charge! Got it?” The room responded with a unanimous shout of “YEAH!” and Spark turned to his associate, offering a fist bump. “You got this, Sam.”

“No prob, bossman,” Sam said, happily accepting the offer. “You can count on us to defend the base.” Spark smiled, then turned to Mesprit.

“Let's go.”

'As you wish,' said Mesprit, piercing Spark with its glare, though he didn't stop smiling. _I'm getting the feeling he really doesn't get it,_ Mesprit thought as Spark began to walk towards the exit.

“And have fun with your assignment!” Sam yelled after him, with some of the other Instinct members expressing their agreement with the sentiment. Mesprit followed Spark outside, where the two stopped.

“So, what now?”

'What do you mean, what now? You really have no plan, do you?' Mesprit asked, making sure Spark could feel the contempt.

“Hey!” he said, a slightly offended tone in his voice, though strangely in jest. “I have about twelve percent of a plan!”


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spark and Mesprit arrive home. Not much else to say.

A twist of a key, a push of a door, and Spark entered his home, Mesprit floating inside behind him. The fairy followed Spark into the kitchen, where the boy opened his rather large refrigerator and pulled out a can of lemonade, then turned to Mesprit. "You want anything?"

'I have made it abundantly clear,' Mesprit replied, 'that as a Legendary Pokemon I require no sustenance.'

Spark closed the fridge, then sat down in a chair, opening up the can and taking a sip. "Rough day, huh?"

'Yes. _Surely_ in no part thanks to you.'

"Hey! Ease up on the sarcasm, I'm doing my best."

'Clearly not, seeing as we're still on stage two.'

"Good point." Spark finished his lemonade, then masterfully tossed the empty can into one of his three trash cans, the yellow one. "But hey, on the bright side, the Professor gave me a week. No need to rush."

'You can't rush a friendship. Love takes time, and love takes work. Even platonic love.'

"You sure know a lot about emotions."

'Friendship isn't an emotion.'

"And willpower isn't an attack, and knowledge can't be figured out by machines alone," Spark said, leaning back in his chair. "Professor Willow puts enough faith in our methods, the three of us, to give us this incredibly important task. Uxie is letting Blanche study it, and Azelf is letting Candela battle it. Why aren't you willing to give me the time of day?"

'I am inside your kitchen.'

"Well, yeah, but you're not really friendly with me. You're more like that one acquaintance whose car broke down nearby and who doesn't really like me but needs a place to stay while their car gets fixed."

'But you're letting me stay anyway.'

"Yeah, I mean, that's what friends are for, right? Look, you may hate me, but that's no reason for me to hate you. So I don't."

 _What a strange kid,_ Mesprit thought.  _I'll get to the bottom of him though. Tonight._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's short, it's more of a segue to what comes next  
> i'll drop chapter 4 soon, it's already written


	4. Sour Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overnight, Mesprit decides to try and find out what Spark is hiding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is that potentially trippy sequence i mentioned

He was falling. It was pitch dark and he was falling. It took him a while to realize that he was Spark, but that didn't change the fact that he was falling. Through the darkness, he could make out the very very faint silhouette of... a building? Then he stopped falling. But he wasn't dead. Now he was flying on... a Fearow? How odd...

Floating about a foot above Spark, who was currently laying in his bed, was Mesprit, with a curious expression on its face. It had placed one of its tails on Spark's forehead, and the gem was glowing with a faint red.

_Interesting,_ Mesprit thought to itself. _Now let's try and figure out what he's hiding._

Mesprit placed its second tail on Spark's forehead, and it began to glow as well. The fairy closed its eyes and floated a little lower, overcome by an expression of intense focus.

Spark found himself no longer flying on a Fearow, but instead standing in a field of green... no, white? Red? The flowers rapidly changed colors, not following any kind of structure, just switching at random with jarring contrast. The field grew upward at the ends, swallowing up the sky, until Spark was, still confused as ever, surrounded by a single solid color, as if he were at the bottom of an infinite cube, yet the hue kept rapidly changing. Then the background twisted into a swirl of pink and light blue, which quickly bled together to somehow create yellow. Then it stopped.

“Hello? Anyone?” the boy called out, but nobody came. He looked left, he looked right, he turned around to look behind himself, and then back to his previous direction, to see a featureless blue figure. It was a humanoid, not masculine nor feminine in nature, and definitely wasn't there before.

“Who are you?” asked Spark, but the figure didn't respond in words. Instead, it pointed at something behind Spark, who turned around to see a similar figure, this one a solid red and much more femininely shaped. “What's going on here?”

_So it has something to do with these two,_ thought Mesprit, then opened one of its eyes to look at Spark, who was sweating and clenching his teeth, but otherwise completely motionless, save for his chest rising and falling as he took breaths. _I need to get to the bottom of this._

The red figure, all of a sudden, began to approach Spark, first walking, then dashing, then running full speed toward him. Startled, he turned around, only to see the blue figure doing the same thing. Stuck between the two, his legs unable to move, Spark braced for impact, only for the two to disappear into purple smoke upon colliding with him. The smoke rose above him, forming into what seemed to be a Gastly. It started out small, but grew as more smoke joined its form, and continued to grow even as the smoke ran out completely. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally stopped growing, and opened its mouth, descending onto Spark, who, not quick enough to react, had no choice but to let himself get eaten.

The next stage was a solid purple, the same hue as the Gastly's smoke, and the same extensive proportion with a striking lack of shading. Spark looked down at himself, in awe that he was still somehow alive, and found that he was no longer Spark, but another featureless figure, himself a solid yellow, the same as the environment from before. He examined his hands, turning one around, then the other, trying to find the fingers but not seeing any. He finally looked up, only to see the blue and red figures from before, having appeared out of thin air again. He waved at them happily to greet them, and tried to say hello, but no voice came out from his lack of a mouth. He watched as the red figure offered its hand up to the blue figure, and the blue figure took it eagerly, the duo now walking away from the yellow figure. He tried to chase them, but failed, as his legs still refused to move an inch, and fell over onto the purple ground, causing it to crack around him. The crack grew bigger, spreading in every direction across the area, climbing up the walls and dividing up the entire world into shards – though the red and blue figures were strangely protected from this.

_That can't be it. There's more, I can feel it._

The world then began to crumble. First, from behind. One shard fell off. Then another. Then another two, and four more, until they were falling at an alarming rate, and Spark still couldn't move his legs to try to escape. He stretched out his hand, clawing at the ground with the fingers he now seemed to have again, doing his best to try and crawl over to the two figures, but to no avail, and they ignored his struggle even as the purple shell crumbled away from underneath him, and then them, leaving the three in pitch black once again. Then he began to fall. Very, very slowly, not like he would in real life. He tried to scream out for help, but he still had no mouth with which to speak. Nevertheless, the two figures finally noticed him, and as the red one reached its hand out to try to save him, the blue disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just as Spark noticed that the red figure now had fingers just like him, he began to fall faster, until he could see the red figure no more, and then he once again was Spark, falling through pitch black, next to a building, and landing on a Fearow.

Mesprit sat down on the shelf, its tails still faintly glowing but no longer placed on Spark's forehead – there was no need, as the fairy now knew all that it needed. _He's an interesting boy,_ thought Mesprit, _but if he really wants to be my friend, he'll have to deal with this first._

 

_On his own,_ it added. _I can nudge him in the right direction, but he has to do it by himself._

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'll write more eventually  
> until then maybe go read locked out again  
> or just go read it for the first time if this is your first contact with what is rapidly becoming an actual freaking universe apparently


End file.
